Giving Tree may be the only Christmas for some kids

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Only a few tags remain on the Giving Tree at St. Paul’s Church in Binghamton. Parishioners take a tag marked with the name of a store and buy a gift card for children and teens in need.(Photo: Connie McKinney / Correspondent photo)Buy Photo

Parishioners at St. Paul’s Church in Binghamton are opening their hearts and wallets to help children and teens in need this holiday season.

“Spiritually, as we approach the Christmas season, the celebration of Jesus’ birth, it fosters within people a desire to respond to God’s generosity,” said Rev. Jon Werner, the church’s pastor. “It refocuses our attention to doing something with our faith.”

That’s why parishioners have been grabbing tags off the church’s Giving Tree and buying gift cards. This year, 170 star-shaped paper tags adorned the tree set up at the front of St. Paul’s Church. Parishioners take a tag, which has the name of a store written on it; buy a gift card from that store; and return the card in the weekly collection during Mass or drop them off at the church office. Catholic Charities of Broome County then collects and distributes the cards to children and teens in need.

“Our people are very generous,” said Eva Schmidt, the church’s secretary who helps with the program.

The gift card the children or teens receive might be the only gift they get, she said.

“They might not have much of a Christmas unless someone else helps them,” she said. “Christmas is a time of giving.”

St. Paul’s has been participating in the Giving Tree program for more than 20 years, said DawnMarie Kelleher, who heads the Giving Tree program at St. Paul’s. Several other local churches also participate in the Giving Tree program, including St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Binghamton. Parishioners at St. Mary’s, which shares the same pastor with St. Paul’s, are buying gift cards for the children of Mom’s House, which provides free child care and other services to single parents attending college or other educational programs.

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DawnMarie Kelleher, right, with the Giving Tree at St. Paul’s Church in Binghamton along with David Schmidt, left, and his mother, Eva Schmidt. Parishioners take a tag marked with the name of a store and buy a gift card for children and teens in need.(Photo: Connie McKinney / Correspondent photo)

In the past, the tags would name a specific gift that parishioners could buy such as a doll for a 6-year-old girl, Kelleher said. But gift cards allow parents to use the gift cards and do their own shopping, or give the gift cards to their child or teen.

The Giving Tree is a way that parishioners can celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, Werner said.

“It is good to share blessings with those not so blessed,” Werner said. “Between Jesus’ birth and resurrection, he taught us how to be better human beings. He taught us that whatever we do for the least of our sisters and brothers, we do for God.”

David Schmidt, Eva’s adult son, agreed.

“What we are told by Christ is we should look out for other people,” he said. “We ourselves will be judged by our deeds and works of mercy.”

Kelleher said she hopes the spirit of generosity she sees among her fellow parishioners will continue long after the Giving Tree is taken down.

“People are more generous at Christmas time,” she said. “It’s something we need to keep in mind all year long.”

St. Paul’s Church

Located at 15 Doubleday St. on Binghamton’s North Side, the church is led by Rev. Jon Werner, who also serves as pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption in downtown Binghamton. Weekend Masses at St. Paul’s are held at 5:15 p.m. Saturdays, and 8:30 and 11 a.m. Sundays.